Saturday, May 14, 2011

This is the day that the Lord has made … that the Lord has made … that the Lord ordained? You better believe it. I was surprised. He wasn’t. He gave this day to all of us and as for me I will praise and thank the Lord for it. Every day is special and every day is His despite the view from here, from our particular perspective. This is a comfort to me, a reassurance, and a cause for the hope He has provided for me in my weakness.

So, What makes me so gleefully optimistic today? I spent the day freezing on a street corner, holding my protest sign against abortion, and basically spitting into the wind. Ah! But I got to do it with a bunch of the sweetest pit bulls on the planet, whacked out weirdo’s that do more than sit on pews. People I had met for the first time, and I might add, delighted by my presence, oh! … And might I mention, a man I also have desired to meet for a long time. This guy can preach! He certainly surprised me with his depth and passion, not to mention his intelligence and ability to articulate. He has to be one of the most unpopular, unrelenting bulldogs of our day. Of course, there was no media presence and it didn’t matter. There was little hostility except for an occasional “California wave.” Like I said, we were spitting in the wind. I didn’t want to stop, though, and now we’re home and for the first time in a long time, I’m motivated. I’m more than convinced that apathy is a disease that is curable, and maybe it will be cured in my day.

So … with whom was I standing on the street corner with, freezing my basoombas, and loving it? Alan Keyes. Yeah! This guy is trouble, he’s radical and over the edge, but … after listening to him, watching him, researching him, dissecting him without apology, I’m convinced of his genuineness and his integrity. He places himself under God’s scrutiny, and ours. Contrary to the ways of popular politics, principle reigns supreme, along with its origin. He is the John Quincy Adams of the day, unpopular yes, but rooted in the resolve of his beliefs and gratifyingly unaffected with the overwhelming opposition he faces. He shared one of his despairing moments with us. He told us that he once said … “God, you’re all I have. Wait, what did I just say? God, You’re all I have?” He says he was stricken at that moment with the absurdity of what comes out of our mouths. What more could we possibly need?

It occurred to me then just how corrupted and obstructed our vision can be. He also spoke of the audacity in thinking that we can actually “save” anyone. God saves. The truth lies more in where we stand. I want to stand in the truth of God’s righteousness and in the surety of His word. I can do all things through Him. Actually, He allows me, as His child to hold His guiding and reassuring hand thru the days of my life.

Yes, this is the day the Lord has made. Take hold of His hand and take a walk with Him!

One life; one life out of billions of others. Purpose and value swallowed and devoured by the sheer insignificance of being, of smallness, a voice robbed of existence by the roar of nothing less than the same. Seemingly endless in its persistence, masses, volume, and magnanimity, the onslaught prevails … almost! Our smallness would defeat us, if it could, by default. After all, life is just a vapor.

This is the basis for my faith, or rather my faith in Jesus. It was just one life, but from the time I was first introduced to Jesus I knew his voice. I can’t offer a definitive explanation other than even as a young boy I knew there was no other like Him. It was His voice that I knew and trusted. Now, I was surrounded, like the rest of us, with the awakenings of the promise of newness, common with youthful discovery and the assumptions of ownership. I had not yet read Ecclesiastes. The philosophies of the time sounded so good, so new, and even compatible with those of Jesus. I prided myself on knowing of His engaging the evils of establishment. I did so also. I still heard His voice with the help of my ever so carefully and newly enlightened worldview. I did some stupid things. I discovered the age of accountability. I heard his voice again. He said, very clearly this time, after I had been doing something I knew was wrong [drugs], and I remember this like it was yesterday, “You will never be the same person you were yesterday. There’s no going back.” I remember feeling like the image on the other side of the mirror looking back at who I was the day before with no way of returning to where I belonged. I felt small and alone. I wish I could say at this point that I became wise to the lies. I didn’t. I dug myself an absolutely astonishing pit.Yet still, I could hear His voice. Incredible!

I’m not a great climber. It took years to climb out of that hole. Now I’m looking at the mountain I want to climb. With so much time spent and an account wanting for returns, I still look through the mirror with the anticipation of being reunited with the person Jesus intended and intends still in making me. There is a price for disobedience and it lasts a lifetime. So now I’m ready to be obedient but like I said the piper is still there waiting to be paid. I can hear an objection at this point, after all am I not a new creation? Yes, I am…one with a lifetime of consequences. I’m not whining though, I feel incredibly blessed. I believe in happy endings. I’ll be just a vapor but not just. I’ll be a vapor trail … Oh! Yeah! Whatever time is left for me I want to leave a trail that leads others home, back to reality, back to Jesus.

This is the basis for my faith. I know now that I’m just “one life.” One life out of billions. Jesus was one life. He talks to me with a still small voice. Size doesn’t matter to Him; He created the universe above us and in us. He’s more than just the natural, more than supernatural…He created both.He’s not misled with the philosophy of the day because He’s the truth. Jesus always was and is life. He came to give me purpose, show me value, give me His voice, and transform my littleness into more than I can fathom. I may not be able to prove Him to you, but just ask Him and He’ll prove Himself in your life. He breathed it into you and sustains you even in your rebellion, and patiently waits right up to that last breath. This is the basis for my faith in Christ and in life…one life.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Why do we look like them? I have no problem with the necessity of taking Osama's life but was sickened by the picture in the paper of a huge crowd celebrating. It was the same feeling I had watching film footage of Arab nations celebrating after the destruction of the twin towers. Justice ... can it be served without wallowing in the gutter? I'm as guilty of a vengeful heart as the next guy but this reminds me of children sticking their tongues out at each other after inflicting their childish insults and injury. Is it not possible to rise above? God help us ... is there anyone else out there that see's this as wrong? Why do we look like them?

About Me

I'm the dreaded fundamentalist you keep hearing about from the media. I believe the Bible [textus receptus]. I'm not a flavor [???? Christian], just Christian and amazed by the church's concessions hoping to appease an anti-Christian [rather a fallen societal antichrist deluded socialist agenda] sentiment fueled by the constant barrage of misrepresentations by a biased [lying] constituancy.